Slashpaw woke when the monster screeched to a halt. He had fallen asleep somehow, despite the cold, the noise, and the dreadful uncomfortableness of the monster's metal pelt.
"Slashpaw!" Doom hissed. "The Twoleg's getting out! We need to hide!" Slashpaw quickly got to his paws. His muscles were stiff from sleeping on the hard, cold surface, but he followed Doom as quickly as he could. The back of the monster was bare and provided no hiding places, so Doom leaped lightly down onto the pavement. The Twoleg was walking around the right side of his monster, so Doom and Slashpaw darted around the left. They passed quickly across the monster's front. Slashpaw's fur prickled in fear. Doom seemed to think that the monster was asleep, but Slashpaw feared that it would notice them and attack. But the monster did not stir, and the two cats hid in a shrub at the side of the Thunderpath.
Slashpaw peered out from between the leafless branches and watched as the Twoleg took Ice's plastic box out of the monster. She yowled as loudly as she could from inside, and Slashpaw could hear her scrabbling desperately at the sides in an attempt to escape from her prison. As the Twoleg walked past their shrub, Slashpaw sunk his claws involuntarily into the frozen dirt. He watched, helpless, as the Twoleg carried Ice into a large Twoleg den. The door swung shut with ominous finality as the Twoleg disappeared inside.
The father-son duo emerged cautiously from the shrub, scenting the air and keeping a lookout for more Twolegs.
"How are we going to get in there?" asked Slashpaw, waving his tail at the Twoleg den into which Ice had been taken.
"I'm not sure," Doom sighed. "Let's take a look around."
The two cats circled around the building, searching for a way in. Night fell as they searched, and Doom stopped.
"Slashpaw, I think we need to call it a night and get some rest," he said. "We've searched the whole building, and we haven't found anything."
"But we can't give up!" Slashpaw said indignantly. "Ice needs us!"
"We aren't," Doom soothed. "We can try again in the morning."
"All right," Slashpaw sighed. After a quick hunt, the two returned to the sheltering shrub they had hidden in earlier that day. Slashpaw curled up next to his father and soon fell asleep, thoughts filled with Ice's urgent yowls.
Sunlight streamed through the branches of the shrub, waking Slashpaw. Doom was awake already and grooming himself. Doom caught a squirrel for the two of them to share.
"What are we going to do?" asked Slashpaw. "I don't know how we're going to get inside."
"Well," said Doom, "let's take another look around. Maybe we missed something in the dark last night."
They circled around the building once more with no luck. Doom leapt up on every windowsill and tested to see if they would open, but all of them were fastened shut.
"Now what?" Slashpaw asked as they arrived back at their shrub.
"I guess there's only one way in," Doom said.
"What?" asked Slashpaw. He followed his father's gaze. "The doors? The ones that the Twoleg took Ice through?"
"Yes," Doom said. "Neither of us is big or strong enough to open them ourselves, so –"
"So we're going to have to get a Twoleg to open them!" Slashpaw cried, pleased with himself for figuring it out.
"You're right," Doom said, purring at Slashpaw's enthusiasm. "But how?"
Slashpaw crouched outside the doors in the shadow of a prickly, decorative bush that grew in a row of similar ones next to the building. A thick stick, about a tail-length long, lay by his paws. Their first plan had been to hide by the door and wait for a Twoleg to come by and go into the building. Supposedly, the Twoleg would open the door and go inside, and then Doom and Slashpaw would dash in behind him. After waiting for quite a while, they had given up. No Twolegs had come by, and they realized that even if one did, there was no guarantee that they would be able to get inside before the door closed on their tails, and then the Twoleg would surely spot them.
So now it was time for Plan B. Doom was currently pushing a big, metal cylinder with a removable lid he had found toward the hard, concrete path that ran from the road to the building. Doom said the metal cylinder was called a "trash can", and that Twolegs used it to store extra food and items. The plan was that Doom would knock the trash can over onto the pavement. It would make a loud noise, and hopefully a Twoleg would come to investigate.
Once said Twoleg had picked up the trash can and put it back in its place, he would return inside of the building, and Slashpaw would place his stick in between the door frame and the door, preventing it from shutting all the way. Then he and Doom would put their paws into the space created by the stick and pry the door open.
"Are you ready, Slashpaw?" Doom called.
"Yes!" he answered, peering around the bush. Doom was standing behind the trash can, which was tilted, perched half on the pavement and half on the higher, snow-covered grass.
"Here we go then," Doom said. He backed up a ways, then sprinted forward. Slashpaw watched, impressed, as his father sprang upwards. Still in midair, he kicked out at the trash can. His paws made contact with a hollow ringing sound, and it tipped and fell. Slashpaw flattened his ears to his head to block out the horrible clanging and clattering that followed as the trash can hit the pavement. The lid came off and crashed down as the trash can rolled around.
Slashpaw took a step backwards further into the shadow as a Twoleg female came out of the building. He hoped that Doom had reached his hiding place. The Twoleg walked across the pavement and stopped near the trash can. She said something that Slashpaw didn't understand while looking at it. Slashpaw thought she looked quite confused, but she didn't claim to be an expert on Twoleg body language.
The Twoleg picked the trash can up, put the lid back on top of it, and carried it away. After a while, she returned empty-handed. Slashpaw tensed as she approached the door and grabbed the stick with his mouth. He took a step forward as she put her paw on the door handle. She pulled the door open and stepped inside. Slashpaw sped forward, dropped the stick, and guided it into place with his paws, pulling back as the door swung closed.
He jumped back into his hiding place, hissing as snow cascaded off of the quivering bush onto his back, half expecting the Twoleg to return and grab him. When nothing stirred for a few moments, he cautiously crept out of the protection of the bush.
"Doom, it worked!" he cried as he ran toward the place where his father was waiting.
"Good work, Slashpaw," said the black cat. They padded back toward the door. Doom slid a paw into the crack created by the stick and pulled.
The door didn't budge.
He put his other forepaw in, balancing precariously on his hind paws, and pulled. Slashpaw did the same.
Nothing.
Slashpaw twisted around and put his shoulder against it, pushing as hard as he could.
The door pushed outwards a little bit, but not enough to be considered progress. Both cats fell back, panting.
"We have to keep trying," Slashpaw said. "Ice needs us."
"You're right," Doom said. "Let's do this." He shook his pelt and stepped forward. This time, Doom and Slashpaw switched places so that Doom was pushing and Slashpaw was pulling. He pulled until his muscles were on fire and his body screamed for him to stop, and then he pulled some more.
The door started to move. In his excitement, Slashpaw lost his grip on the door. Doom yowled, for the door was now to heavy for him to manage alone, and jumped to the side to get out of the way as the door swung shut. As he moved, he accidentally bumped the stick out of its position as a doorstop, and the heavy door clicked as it closed completely.
"I'm sorry," Slashpaw muttered.
"Don't worry about it," Doom said, brushing his kit's flank with his ebony tail.
"Now how are we going to get in?" asked Slashpaw.
"I don't know," sighed Doom. He looked at his son, who was staring glumly at his paws, ears and tail drooping. "Don't worry, Slashpaw," he said. "We'll think of something. But I'm thirsty. Let's go find something to drink, and then we'll figure out another plan."
They decided to try the cluster of Twoleg nests across the Thunderpath for some water. After trying a few gardens, they spotted a bowl of water sitting out on the back steps of one Twoleg nest. The whole garden was full of dog-scent, but Doom said that the canine was locked up inside.
Slashpaw followed his father to the water bowl and they both drank deeply, tired out from their mad dashes and attempts to open the door.
"I wonder," said Doom, "if maybe... maybe...."
"What?" asked Slashpaw.
"I wonder if one of those windows could open from the inside," Doom mused.
"How would that help?" said Slashpaw. "We still can't get in to open the window."
"Hush," Doom said, waving his tail distractedly at his son. "I think I've got it...."
"Are you sure this will work?" Slashpaw asked. He and Doom were standing on the lawn outside the Twoleg building where Ice was being held.
"It had better," Doom said, "because I'm running out of ideas. Are you ready?"
Slashpaw nodded.
"All right then," said Doom, "let's go."
Both cats took deep breaths, and then started yowling as hard as they could. Doom lashed out at Slashpaw, claws sheathed, and Slashpaw did the same. They wrestled on the ground, thrashing and yowling and spitting.
At the sound of a Twoleg shouting and a door slamming, Doom broke away from their mock fight and sprinted to safety while Slashpaw lay prostrate on the grass. He hoped he looked convincing. Doom had taken great care to make him look as if he had been in a fight. His fur was ruffled and they had smeared bright red blood from a mouse they had caught all over his pelt.
As the Twoleg approached, Slashpaw stiffened in fear and felt his fur start to prickle. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. He had to play the part of an injured street cat. Ice needed him.
Through eyes opened just a hairbreadth, Slashpaw watched as the Twoleg took off an outer layer of his pelt. He wanted to screech in fear, but stifled the feeling and let the Twoleg wrap him in his pelt, lift him up, and carry him toward the building.
As the Twoleg pulled the door open, a rush of air found its way through the folds of the Twoleg's pelt and ruffled Slashpaw's fur, bringing the overwhelming scents of Twolegs, dogs, and cats. The loud Twoleg footsteps echoed across the empty lobby. Slashpaw could hear muffled dog barks coming from somewhere.
The Twoleg carried Slashpaw through another door into a small room. He set the cat down on a platform raised up on four legs, one at each corner. Gently, the Twoleg pulled the pelt away. Slashpaw wanted to jump down and run away, but he forced himself to lay still. The Twoleg made noises that Slashpaw supposed were meant to be soothing and felt the gray apprentice with his huge paws.
Suddenly a Twoleg yowled from outside the room. Slashpaw's Twoleg called something back. The other Twoleg answered and Slashpaw's Twoleg sighed. He stroked Slashpaw's fur and murmured something to him, and then he left the room.
Once he was sure that the Twoleg was gone, Slashpaw leapt to his paws. The room seemed way too clean to him, and it smelled strange. There was a large window next to his platform. He leapt onto the sill.
"Now, how do I open it?" he wondered aloud, studying the window. He spotted a latch in the middle and pawed at it. The latch wiggled but didn't open. Growling softly in frustration, he pawed harder, and then scratched madly at it with both paws.
Suddenly the latch clicked. Surprised and pleased, Slashpaw pushed the window open. It slid open sideways, and Slashpaw hopped down onto the snow-coated grass. He raced over to the place he and Doom were to meet: a young tree at the side of the building.
"Doom!" he called as he ran up to it. His father turned to see him, and his tail waved in the air.
"I was worried you'd be trapped in there," he purred as he climbed out.
"Then why did you send me in?" Slashpaw asked, head cocked to the side.
"Because I knew you'd be clever enough to escape!" Doom laughed, rubbing his cheek against Slashpaw's in a rare moment of tenderness.
"Then why where you so worried?" Slashpaw was quite confused. Doom wasn't making sense.
"Because that's what parents do, Slashpaw," said Doom, his ruby eyes meeting Slashpaw's identical ones. "You'll understand some day. Now, I believe that our friend is waiting for us."
And the pair of cats raced toward the window, leaving two sets of paw prints, one set large and the other small, in the snow.